Stud for sheet metal construction



Dec. 23, 1952 c. MATTlO 2,622,468

STUD FOR SHEET METAL CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 14, 1947 JTTOE/YEVJ Patented Dec. 23, 1952 STUD FOR SHEET METAL CONSTRUCTION Christy Mattio,

Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to Grace E. Straehle, doing business as Straehle Machine Products Company, Cleveland, Ohio Application August 14, 1947, Serial No. 768,555

1 Claim.

This invention relates to the art of sheet metal construction and, more particularly, my present improvement consists of a new form of connection between overlying sheet metal members.

My present invention is adapted for effective use in connection with sheet metal scaffolding, work benches, shipping crates, sheet metal buildings and the like and is calculated to prove an efficient substitute for the familiar rivets, bolts and nuts, and screws in such installations.

It is of course well understood that several factors enter into the matter of construction, including the dependability of the completed structure itself in actual use over a prolonged period of time, the cost of parts used in the construction, the cost of labor in erection or assembly, the speed with which the work can be done, the possibility of disassembly and re-use of the original material as well as the cost of such disassembling operation. There are still other factors which are important and should be taken into account in the case of a means of connection in metal construction, as for instance the consideration of being proof against such elements as moisture, rust and dust, in addition to freedom from rattling noise.

With these several considerations in mind, it is the object of my present invention to devise a form of connection between sheet metal members that may be assembled at a saving in cost of both labor and material, that will prove to be substantially proof against moisture, rust and dust, that will be free from rattling noise and that can be readily disassembled at a comparative saving in cost and in such manner as to permit re-use of the same sheet material.

A further object is to devise such a form of connection that is capable of various uses in the sheet metal industry with marked improvement in the several respects above mentioned.

Another object is to devise a convenient form of tool for securing my present form of connection in complete assembly.

Another object is to devise a convenient form of tool for the disassembly of my connecting means.

Other objects will appear from the following description and claims when considered together with the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of one form of sheet metal construction in which my present form of connection may be employed, this illustration indicating the roof of a building with deep rib sheeting;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of one of my connections;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of one of my connections in the process of being assembled;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and indicates my connection in complete assembly;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of my improved studs;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the stud;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of one of my caps which are crimped upon the heads of the studs;

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of one of the caps;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of my improved form of tool for removing a cap from the head of a stud for the purpose of dissassembly;

Fig. 10 is a view taken on line 19-10 of Fig. 11, wherein is illustrated my improved form of tool for applying a cap to the head of a stud; and

Fig. 11 is a view corresponding to line HH of Fig. 10.

It is to be understood that the present form of disclosure is merely for the purpose of illustration and that there might be devised various modifications thereof Without departing from the spirit of my invention as herein set forth and claimed.

My present inventionconsists of a metal stud with a cylindrical form of body I having a shank portion 2 of reduced diameter and ahead portion 3 with a rounded side portion. The head is of such diameter as to barely pass through the registering apertures in the overlying portions A and B of adjacent sheets of metal which: are to be connected together. Another part of my assembly is the cap 4 which has its edge portion so formed as to be capable of being crimped about the under-side of the rounded portion of the head 3 when applied thereto so as to be brought into effective holding engagement with the marginal portion of the one sheet member A about the opening therethrough and thereby secure the stud in place. Such engagement of the cap 4 will serve also to draw the shoulder 5 of the stud towards the inner side of the inner sheet metal member B and to compress the disk 6 of caulking thereagainst so as to produce an effective seal against moisture, rust and dust. There is provided within the cap 4 another sealing medium la which is of a compressible, flowing nature so as to be forced outwardly by the crimping of the cap 4 and to flow sufficiently about the edge of the aperture in the outer overlying portion A of one of the metal sheets and into the space about the shank portion 2 of the: stud. In this way there is obtained a double seal against the entrance of moisture and dust from either end of the stud connection.

It is to be understood that the cap 4 is made of suitable form of metal to permit crimping of the edge portion of the same and also to permit the crimped cap 4 to maintain its crimped condition over a prolonged period of time without any danger of loosening and rattling or leaking.

In applying my present form of stud to the roof of a building with deep rib sheeting for instance, as illustrated in a general Way in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing, it is possible for a single workman to insert the studs into the registering holes in the overlying portions of the sheets of metal from the under-side thereof by reaching about the edge of the sheeting. Due to the nature of the sheeting and the form it will assume under such conditions, the studs will remain within the registering holes of the overlying portions of the adjacent sheets so as to permit application of the caps 4 to the heads 3 of the studs. This is accomplished by means of my tool illustrated in Figs. and 11 hereof. The head 7 of the this tool is formed with a cylindrical recess, in its under-side, which is capable of engaging snugly over the edge portion of the cap 4 and to effect crimping of the edge portion thereof about and beneath the rounded side portion of the head 3 of the stud as pressure is applied to the handle 8 of the tool. Such crimping action will, through the engagement of the edge portion of the cap 6 with the under-side of the head 3, serve to pull the shoulder 5 up against the caulking disk 6 so as to produce a sealing entirely about the edge of the opening in the lower part B of the joint, as well as an effective and dependable locking of the stud in position for holding the overlying portions A and B of the sheeting firmly together, even against the danger of rattling.

Should it be desired to disassemble the construction which has been secured with this form of stud, this may be readily accomplished by means of the tool illustrated in Fig. 9 of the accompanying drawing. This tool comprises the handle 9 and the head portion I0 which is of substantially oblong open form, extending transversely of the handle 9, and has its inner farther edge formed with teeth H. In using this tool, the teeth II will be engaged with one side of the crimped portion of the cap 4 while the opposite side of the head of the tool will be rested upon the top of the cap 4, the head portion l0 being of less width than the diameter of the cap 4. Then, by bearing down upon the handle 9 as a lever, the farther crimped edge portion of the cap 4 will be loosened so as to permit complete removal of the cap without damaging the stud or the metal sheets in the region of the stud. Thus it is possible, with my present improvement, to disassemble the structure by removal of the studs in the manner just explained, and then use the same metal sheeting over again with the same degree of efiiciency as in the first instance.

It is to be understood that my present stud may be made and used in various sizes and dimensions and in various forms of installations, all with corresponding advantages of the same kind as above noted. My stud is less costly than other clamping means used for the same purpose at the present time and there is less time and labor required in an installation of my studs.

Also, my stud will permit disassembly of an installation at less cost in both time and labor, and the same original sheet metal members can be saved in perfect condition for re-use. Furthermore, an installation embodying my stud ensures a most effective form of connection in mechanical security and dependability and also is proof against rattling, moisture and dust.

While the present invention may be used in connection with sheet metal construction, its use is not to be understood as being limited to sheet metal but it may be employed in connection with any sheet material as for instance fibre, asbestos, cement, rubber, screens, plastics etc, the principle being the same in all such cases and there being obtained substantially the same degree of advantage as above explained.

What I claim is:

In sheet construction, a means of connection between overlying members, consisting of a separate stud having a shank portion of substantially cylindrical form adapted to extend through registering holes in the overlying members, said stud having a shoulder of larger size than the holes in the overlying members for engagement with one side of the overlying members and having a permanently incompressible head of substantially bulbous form with curved side walls only slightly smaller than the holes through the overlying members, cap means for engaging in a uniform manner over and about said head and adapted to engage the marginal portion about the opening through the adjacent one of the overlying members, and expansible sealing means provided between said shoulder and the overlying members and between said stud and cap means and adapted to be forced together into the space between said stud and the edges of the holes in the overlying members, the length of said shank portion being substantially equal to the combined thickness of said overlying members and the sealing means between said shoulder and overlying members, and said sealing means extending between the top of said bulbous head and around the curved side Walls between the overlying portions of said cap and bulbous head.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 329,713 Caldwell Nov. 3, 1885 434,650 Adams Aug. 19, 1890 795,330 Brewington July 25, 1905 968,551 Goss Aug. 30, 1910 1,100,935 Yerby June 23, 1914 1,335,756 Searfi Apr. 6, 1920 1,341,163 Beste May 25, 1920 1,360,321 Rosenfeld Nov. 30, 1920 1,770,893 Fenton July 15, 1930 2,111,564 Gross Mar. 22, 1938 2,159,346 Welch et al May 23, 1939 2,259,343 Zigler July 22, 1941 2,420,061 Adams May 6, 1947 2,495,870 Soukup Jan. 31, 1950 

